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Ed
http://robertreich.org/post/3179090621
Obama's Deal with the US Chamber of Commerce is Disaster for Workers
by Robert Reich
RobertReich.org: February 8, 2011
"We can, and we must, work together," the President told the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce on Monday. "Whatever differences we may have, I know that all of
us share a deep, abiding belief in this country, a belief in our people, a
belief in the principles that have made America's economy the envy of the
world."
Really? I've been watching (and occasionally trying to deal with) the
Chamber for years, and all I know is it has a deep, abiding belief in
cutting taxes on the wealthy, eroding regulations that constrain Wall
Street, cutting back on rules that promote worker health and safety, getting
rid of the minimum wage, repealing the new health-care law, fighting unions,
cutting back Medicare and Social Security, reducing or eliminating corporate
taxes, and, in general, taking the nation back to the days before the New
Deal.
So what, exactly, is the deal Obama is pitching to the Chamber?
He said his administration will "help lay the foundation for you to grow and
innovate," by eliminating "barriers that make it harder for you to compete -
from the tax code to the regulatory system," and by completing more trade
deals.
In return, the President said he wants businesses to hire more Americans.
"Many of your own economists and salespeople are now forecasting a healthy
increase in demand. So I want to encourage you to get in the game," he said.
"And as you hire, you know that more Americans working means more sales,
greater demand and higher profits for your companies. We can create a
virtuous cycle."
Virtuous cycle? American businesses are doing quite nicely as it is. Their
profits are soaring. And one reason they're doing so well is they're holding
down costs, especially payrolls. So why would they ever agree to add more
workers now?
From the standpoint of the nation as a whole more Americans working may mean
even higher profits overall. But publicly-traded companies aren't in the
business of spending money to help other companies. To the contrary, they're
competing with one another to show high quarterly earnings in order to boost
their share prices. They'll "get in the game" and begin to hire large
numbers of Americans only when it helps their own bottom lines.
And when will that be? Not long ago I debated a conservative economist who
argued American workers had priced themselves out of the global labor market
and would therefore have to settle for lower real wages and benefits before
they'd be hired back in large numbers. By his logic, many health and safety
regulations would also have to be compromised or abandoned, since they also
make American workers more expensive.
If this is the tacit bargain the President is offering business, it's not a
good deal for American workers.
There's no secret to creating lots of jobs by reducing the median wage,
slashing benefits, compromising health and safety at the workplace, and,
effectively, reducing the standard of living of millions of Americans. We've
been doing it for years.
And it doesn't lead to a "virtuous cycle." It leads to the kind of economy
we've had for years - including, right now, the most anemic recovery from a
deep trough since the mid-1930s. Indeed, when the debt bubble popped in
2008, we discovered how many Americans no longer had the ability to buy
enough to keep the economy going. In this and other ways, 2008 bore an
uncomfortable resemblance to 1929.
The alternative is to create lots of jobs with high disposable incomes.
In the short term, this means expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit wage
subsidy right up through the middle class, and cutting income and payroll
taxes for everyone earning less than $80,000 a year - making up the lost
revenues by raising the ceiling on Social Security payroll taxes and hiking
marginal taxes on the rich.
In the longer term, this means investing in a world-class education for all
the nation's kids, including college or high-quality technical education
beyond high school. Here again, we'd have to rely on the top 1 percent (who
now take home more than 20 percent of all income) to foot the bill.
Might the CEOs and top executives who comprise the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
go along with this? After all, they profess to be patriotic. As the
President said, they "share a deep, abiding belief in this country, a belief
in our people, a belief in the principles that have made America's economy
the envy of the world."
I don't mean to sound cynical but I doubt it.
***
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/20112913546831171.html
Labour Unions Boost Egypt Protests
Thousands of factory workers stay away from work as pro-democracy protesters
continue to rally seeking Mubarak's ouster.
Al Jazeera
February 9, 2011
Egyptian labour unions have gone on a nationwide strike, adding momentum to
pro-democracy demonstrations in Cairo and other cities.
Al Jazeera correspondents, reporting from Egypt, said around 20,000 factory
workers stayed away from work on Wednesday.
Al Jazeera's Shirine Tadros, reporting from Cairo, said that some workers
"didn't have a political demand".
"They were saying that they want better salaries, they want an end to the
disparity in the pay, and they want the 15 per cent increase in pay that was
promised to them by the state."
However, Tadros also said that some workers were calling for Hosni Mubarak,
the Egyptian president, to step down.
The strike action came as public rallies calling for Mubarak to immediately
hand over power entered their 16th day.
Determined protesters are continuing to rally in Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation)
Square, and other cities across the country. They say they will not end
the protests until Mubarak, who has been at the country's helm since 1981,
steps down.
Protesters with blankets gathered outside the parliament building in Cairo
on Wednesday, with no plan to move, our correspondent reported. The
demonstrators have put up a sign that reads: "Closed until the fall of the
regime".
The government seems to be scrambling under pressure from major powers and
pro-democracy supporters, Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker reported from the
city.
She said people in Tahrir Square were angered by a visit from Tamer Hosni, a
famous Arab pop star, on Wednesday morning.
Hosni previously made statements telling the demonstrators to leave the
square, saying that Mubarak had offered them concessions. "His comments
really did not go down very well," our correspondent said. The crowd reacted
angrily and the military had to intervene to keep them away from him.
"People feel very strongly here," Al Jazeera's Dekker said.
Another Al Jazeera correspondent, reporting from Cairo, said there was also
a renewed international element to the demonstrations, with Egyptians from
abroad returning to join the pro-democracy camp.
There is even an internet campaign aimed at mobilizing thousands of
expatriates to return and support the uprising, our correspondent said.
Protesters are "more emboldened by the day and more determined by the day",
Ahmad Salah, an Egyptian activist, told Al Jazeera from Cairo on Wednesday.
"This is a growing movement, it's not shrinking."
Concessions fall short
Mubarak's message has thus far been that he will not leave until his term
expires in September.
As a gesture of goodwill, however, 34 political prisoners, including members
of the banned Muslim Brotherhood opposition group, were reportedly released
over the past two days.
Dekker, our correspondent, reported that there are still an unknown number
of people missing, including activists thought to be detained during the
recent unrest, while Human Rights Watch reported that the death toll has
reached 302 since January 28.
Egypt's health ministry denied the figures, however, saying that official
statistics would be released shortly.
"He (Suleiman) is threatening to impose martial law, which means everybody
in the square will be smashed. But what will he do with the rest of the 70
million Egyptians who will follow us afterward."
Abdul-Rahman Samir, a spokesman for a coalition of the five main youth
groups behind the Tahrir Square protests.
Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian vice president, warned on Tuesday that his
government "can't put up with continued protests" for a long time, saying
the crisis must be ended as soon as possible.
Suleiman said there will be "no ending of the regime" and no immediate
departure for Mubarak, the state news agency MENA reported from a meeting
between the vice-president and independent newspapers.
At one point in the roundtable meeting, he warned that the alternative to
dialogue "is that a coup happens, which would mean uncalculated and hasty
steps, including lots of irrationalities".
When pressed by news editors to explain the comment, he said he did not mean
a military coup but that "a force that is unprepared for rule" could
overturn state institutions, said Amr Khafagi, editor-in-chief of the
privately owned Shorouk daily, who attended the briefing.
Response to Suleiman's statements was grim.
"He is threatening to impose martial law, which means everybody in the
square will be smashed," said Abdul-Rahman Samir, a spokesman for a
coalition of the five main youth groups behind protests in Tahrir Square.
"But what would he do with the rest of the 70 million Egyptians who will
follow us afterward."
Earlier on Tuesday, Suleiman said a plan was in place for the peaceful
transfer of power, which included forming three committees - one to propose
constitutional amendments, another to oversee the implementation of the
amendments and a third to investigate the violent clashes of February 2.
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